I just got back from China. It was an awesome trip! I finally got to see the great wall, the forbidden city, the summer palace! Anyway the purpose of the blog is not to talk about my trip. It is to talk about Pu-Erh.
We bought a lot of tea leafs while we were in China. 4 HUGE boxes of Pu-Erh to be exact, for a grand total of RMB 1,200. The aunties said ‘buy Doreen buy, good deal!’, so I bought some. I have been drinking about two glasses of this tea everyday for the past week. I think it does wonders, because I lost about 1 kg in a week just from drinking this. Anyway the only thing I don’t like about it is that the tea can be too ‘leong’ for me. I get leg cramps from drinking this.
Discussing the merits of tea with my friends actually broadened my knowledge a bit. My friend told me that Pu-Erh tea is actually ‘Po Lei’. Weird hey? How can Pu-Erh in mandarin possibly be ‘Po Lei’ in cantonese?!?!?! But the fact remains that they are both one and the same.
Below are some paragraphs I copy and pasted from articles on Pu-Erh tea. I hope you will enjoy reading this.
Pu-erh or Pu’er tea (Chinese: 普洱茶; pinyin: pǔ’ěrchá) is a fermented tea, named after Pu’er county in Yunnan, China. It is an unusual tea, because unlike other teas which are consumed shortly after production, it is often aged before consumption; it is not impossible to find pu-erh older than 20, 30, or even 50 years. Indeed, connoisseurs pay heavy prices for older “Pu-Erh”, and classify the teas by year of production, much like a wine vintage. In addition to loose leaf, pu-erh tea is typically bought in cakes of compacted tea.
Unlike other varieties of tea, Pu-Erh is traditionally made with leaves from tall, old trees. These trees are of a varietal known as "broad leaf tea" (大叶, dà yè) found only in Southwest China and bordering regions in Burma, Vietnam, and Laos. The leaves are covered with fine hairs, are larger than other tea leaves, and have a different chemical composition. Leaves from old tea trees growing in the wild on different "tea mountains" are highly valued; more and more, connoisseurs seek Pu-Erh with leaves taken from a single tea mountain’s wild forests, unblended with leaves from any other areas.
Oftentimes Pu-Erh is formed into cakes or bricks, wrapped in paper or pomelo rinds, and stored away from excessive moisture, heat, and sunlight in order to further mature. After being stored for many years, the tea takes on darker, mellower characteristics that come with age. This feature of Pu-Erh probably originated from the natural aging process that happened along the ancient caravan routes. The tea bricks developed a unique clean earthy flavor that was then refined by aficionados.
The restorative and medical properties associated with Pu-erh tea is truly astonishing. Often referred to as the “Wonder Tonic” and the “Medicinal Tea”, Pu-erh tea has been hugely popular in China for over 1700 years. For centuries it was given as a tribute to the Emperor and high ranking officials within the Imperial Courts of China. Its high value and many health benefits lead to high demands and the frequency of the tributes gave it the title “Tribute Tea”.
Accounts on the health benefits and medical use of Pu-erh tea has been documented in various ancient scripts and famous books throughout Chinese history. Pu-erh tea is strongly believed to have wide ranging health benefits from anti aging, prevention of heart disease and cancer, diabetic control, removal of toxins to curing dysentery, inflammation, aiding digestion and weight loss, improving the eyesight, blood circulation and reviving those who are overly intoxicated with alcohol.
I hope this is informative for you. If you don’t remember anything you have read, please just remember one thing - ‘Pu-Erh’ is ‘Po Lei’.
